Busy..

 Sorting yet more papers..but Pirate had started..I found where my best clip-pegs had gone..clipping together different subjects...phone, bank etc ready for recycling and shredding...and all put neatly in three cardboard boxes! I did find a small box worth of papers that should be kept.

There will have to be a proper archive sort out later..and probably more reduction..but I am "over the hump" with that job.

A lovely hot day today, so clothes wash and sheets wash..out, dried and ironed those bits that needed it..then getting my clothes tidy in our tallboy. 

Followed by more sorting of Pirate's clothes...and trying on of trousers...and realising that one size fits me perfectly...apart from the waist....those that fit me at the waistband are baggy elsewhere.

If I can manage to reduce that somehow...

And I found that I have company in the house....in the bathroom....she is beautiful..and big....

And hopefully she is busy catching flies...

And repeat...

 

Second section cleared..I scraped a lot of dried moss off the slabs and it needs more work..but even now it looks a lot better.

10.20pm.  quite a burnt orange colour..

Gardening and sky

 A quick dash into town this morning..birthday cards to buy and send..then back again to the fray!! Yet more washing, steadily getting there....and it was a beautiful afternoon...a good reason to mow the front lawn and start work on the paths, weeding and trimming around the slabs...

Worth the effort... although the job is done sitting on a fold up stool!!

Supper from the freezer, watching a video of Saturday's women's Olympic cross country MTB....and doing some mending!!

And again at 10.30....street lights...light pollution... mostly a waste of power, except at road junctions....and why we never see matters astronomical from here.

Night

 

One month and one week since Solstice...and 10.30pm is dark.

The lights at the bottom centre of the photo are runway lights.

G'night...or G'day...

Depends where you are!

First ride

 Out in time this morning to support my team mates as they were riding the team time trial championship... unfortunately with ten miles to go, one got a puncture...and as it is the time of the third rider over the line that counts..and we only have three...they counted as Did Not Finish.

Great to see them all anyway.

The headquarters were at Eglinton Country Park...and I wanted to find a safe way to get from there on my bike to the coastal path...there isn't an off road path or small road that I could find easily...one for a bit more research I think.

So I went to Irvine Harbour and parked there and rode up the NCR 7/73 (both follow the same path for a while) to Saltcoats Harbour and back..just 15 almost flat miles but a first ride for me on Pirate's Eroba bike.

We got on well enough...and I need to get fitter...and possibly have some smaller chainrings...and/or bigger sprockets!!

And back over the river at Irvine 

Then home for a rest...and catch up with the washing mountain and the dishes!!

Potfest in the Park

 Up early-ish today and off to Hutton in the Forest, just Northwest of Penrith.

It was 105 miles... Auntie Goggle said 2 hours 12 minutes.....which would have been very close, without a cloudburst just before Dumfries, and another longer section of torrential rain while on the motorway . The sort that has you down to 40 mph , wipers on fast, fog lights on fire and aft and beginning to wonder if you are going a smidgin too fast....and still there were grey cars without lights on passing at speed.....I was glad that I'd had a break after an hour and 38 miles at Thornhill , the usual stop.

It is Potfest in the Park weekend...105 potters /ceramists/artists in clay....there were only 90 when we went a few years ago, but it has obviously slowly and steadily increased!

I met up with a few friends, chatted to others and treated myself to chips and mushy peas for lunch !!

Musical entertainment...a string quartet 

The house...I didn't have a wander around the gardens this time as it started raining again!!

I even had a nap in the car after lunch...and went back for a second look...there was every sort of work, every type of clay, every size you could imagine!  Inspiring yet mind blowing.

I did the return trip in one hit.. although ready to stop for a break at any time...in nice dry and sunny weather. I did the first 20 miles on ordinary roads to get back into driving mode... luckily there is a 15 mile stretch of the A 6 that is almost parallel to the motorway and it is a nice clear rolling road.....then a quick 10  motorway miles over the border to Scotland and on the B roads through villages to Dumfries, avoiding the traffic on the A75 heading for the ferry to Ireland. Up the A76 to New Cumnock, then on the back roads for a quieter shorter last 15 miles to home....

Now to put my feet up... until tomorrow!!

Carrying on..

 Yet more sorting...binning the worn out clothes that we had bought replacements for..but ended up at the bottom of the wardrobe "just in case"...I have a heap of washing, things to be decided on when clean.

Some items will go to Pirate's children..some to friends. Some fit and suit me.

Work uniforms can go to the air museum in Dumfries...he had planned that already..but I will take photos and email them to family...his nephew as well. They are so alike...and Pirate was his father figure..

I am doing it in hour long sessions... otherwise you kill any enthusiasm!

Lunchtime was partly frustrating.

I had advertised a coffee table on local fb marketplace..and found a taker..for free...first his car wasn't working properly... yesterday we were both going to be in Ayr..so he nominated which supermarket car park.

I arrived a quarter hour early...parked where my car could be seen from the road and also easily as you drive in.....

And I waited for 50 minutes..... standing by the car in the sunshine..quite pleasant.    

Apparently he arrived ten minutes after I did...but didn't get out of his car to find me...and expected me to be online to get a message saying "I've arrived"....and left the car park five minutes after I did....

Perhaps we should have exchanged phone numbers....but never mind, someone else  will want it!

The positive part of the outing is that I managed to buy a concrete paving slab to make a clay wedging and kneading bench...went round the whole yard looking for the right sort..and eventually found one right by the car!!

They don't make smooth surfaced slabs any more, unless they are vitrified porcelain..which is not atall absorbent...Health and safety, is the reason we concluded.  The one I found is smooth on the back...all the others were rough on both sides!!

One small step ahead for my workshop..now to make a sturdy frame....

Sorting and tidying

 Throwing out worn out clothes...his and mine.... sorting which ones I will wear..and filling the bag with those to go to an op shop (charity).

I will probably get these to Shelter.  

Pirate's justgiving page, raised £825, plus the leftover traybakes were sold in the village café and raised £30. Making a total of £855 for Macmillan cancer nurse charity.

Outdoor sorting in the afternoon...tidying the bottom of the garden .

And finding a garden assistant 

I found that either the padlock key is missing..or that the internal mechanism isn't working properly with the key that I am sure is the correct one. This is the padlock to the gas bottle cage...at least I do have time to sort the problem, but one I could do without.

I planned a walk after early supper...but...

They do say that a British summer is two hot days and a thunderstorm....

I have stopped watching live TV.  Thanks to brother I have changed to using my television as a monitor...so that I can relax with programmes that I want to see, when I want to see them. 

I like archaeology..and history...and nature...and proper discussion....and canals!!

It also saves me nearly £180 per year...you can't fault that either..and from the news on the radio yesterday it sounds as if a lot of people are doing the same.

And just adding this view....after the thunderstorm...

Lunchtime in Largs

 A day out on the bus...a longer journey than I had expected...going into Ayr takes half an hour, Ayr to Largs takes just under two hours!!

I had about two hours wandering around the town, watching the ferry to Cumbrae (next time!) and having a look and chat at the gallery Studio44.

Quite a small gallery..front room size..with a selection of ceramics, glass, paintings and prints.

She has month long exhibitions, then a complete change to the next one..and is booked up until next year.  She is interested in both my pots and prints...so incentive to get going and to start with prepare the prints for sale and work out how much to charge!   At least I do have a stock of prints...

One of the local food thieves!!

I ate my packed lunch on the bus back from Largs...I didn't fancy sharing!

Step by step

 I paid for the celebrations today.. fortunately my brother has lent me money to just about cover it. Still there is a.bit of juggling to be done. At least I should be reimbursed...from the savings that I got Pirate making once all his debts were cleared.... meanwhile, I am using my savings...

It's one little step at a time ..I still haven't had any news on Pirate's pension..I should have been receiving that for three months!!

A quieter sunset after a hot day.

And then they were gone...

 Gradually all the family and friends who were staying here or near(ish) have left for home.

Today has been cleaning and tidying and washing....and drying!! day...then shopping this evening.  I don't like self checkouts, but at least that gave me a quiet shop.

It just feels too quiet....

But tonight, after a lovely sunny afternoon, there has been a beautiful sky.. photos taken at 9pm and 11pm...

And life goes on....

Woodland Walk yesterday..Ayr River Way (image heavy!)

 Yesterday, after son#2 headed for home we went for a walk.. something different was requested as we had already been around Hannahston.

Brother consulted walking routes online...and we headed for Failford near Mauchline to walk a section of the River Ayr Way that I had never been on. The only time Pirate had thought of doing it a few years ago all the few parking spaces were full....

It took us 1¾ hours...much up and down as this was by the Gorge....but set us up ready for supper after a long day sitting around.

Blogger has put the photos on back to front again...I tried to be clever and choose them in reverse order....so just read them from the last upwards 😎😄

Another closed pub.